When Clarence “C.J.” Cummings steps onto the weightlifting platform today in Lima, Peru, the world will be watching. He’s used to it. After all, the 13-year-old from Beaufort has shattered every record he’s come near, and coaches worldwide want to know how he does it.

This week, competing as a member of Team USA at the Youth Pan American Championships, Cummings will once again have an international audience watching. Soon after Cummings leaves the platform, videos of his performance will spread like wildfire on social media networks and sports sites, outnumbered perhaps only by the theories explaining how he manages to put weight over his head few of his peers can even budge.

Cummings, who lifts locally for Team Beaufort (a satellite program of Team Savannah) under the watchful eyes of international weightlifting coach Ray Jones, began lifting only 3½ years ago at the age of 10. In his first few months training at Beaufort Middle School, Cummings impressed Jones with his athleticism and speed, but Jones was reluctant to see in his novice lifter any particularly exceptional talent.

“As a coach, you purposefully try not to be biased,” Jones said.

Soon, however, it became clear that Cummings was more than a quick learner. Something else was going on. As the gold medals piled up, coaches nationally and internationally began taking notice. Then, as an 11-year old, Cummings successfully performed a clean-and-jerk with double his bodyweight. This was a first in the history of the sport of weightlifting.

“When he hit that double bodyweight clean-and-jerk, I knew then that C.J. has a talent that is phenomenal,” said Jones. “I thought, ‘This just doesn’t happen.’”

A year later, in December 2012, Cummings was the youngest lifter ever to qualify for and compete in the American Open (no age limit) Weightlifting Championships in Palm Springs, Calif. He placed second against all adult men in his class — as a 12-year-old.

Still at the age of 12 in April 2013, Cummings broke another record as the youngest competitor in history to represent the United States at an international weightlifting championship.

In August of last year, at 13, Cummings won, was awarded best overall lifter, and set new records at the 15 & Under Pan American Championships. This was the first time in over a decade that a U.S. male of any age had broken an international weightlifting record, and USA Weightlifting subsequently designated Cummings “the strongest 13-year old in the world.”

Administrators at USA Weightlifting began to see the incredible potential in the quiet youngster.

“When I look at the international numbers, it is quite clear to me that for his age, C.J. Cummings is one of — if not the — best lifter in the world,” says Phil Andrews, program director for USA Weightlifting at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Dennis Snethen, two-time U.S. Olympic coach, former president of USA Weightlifting and member of the U.S. Weightlifting Hall of Fame, is even more definitive about Cummings.

“C.J. Cummings is the best weightlifter this country has ever seen. Period. There has never been anything like him, not by a long shot,” Snethen said.

Former Olympian and also two-time U.S. Olympic coach Michael Cohen, no stranger to the Savannah sports community, notes, “At this point in time, C.J. is the most dominant athlete — possibly in any sport — to ever come out of this area.”

Cohen appears to make a good point when one considers Cummings’ dominance. In 2012, C.J. won his age-weight class at the National Youth Championships by nearly 50 kg (110 pounds). Last year, he won his age-weight class by almost 100 kg (220 pounds). Most age-weight categories are won by a few kilograms at the most.

So, questions remain for Cummings-watchers around the world. How does he do it? Is there something beyond strength, power and speed that puts Cummings in a category by himself?

Jones points out, “There is a relationship between coach and athlete that is very important. C.J. trusts me, that what I put on the bar — whatever the weight is — he can lift it. Most athletes second-guess the coach, asking, ‘Is that the right weight? Can I lift it?’ Never C.J. He lets me handle the strategy, and he knows his job is just to relax and lift.”

Case in point, said Jones, was Cummings’ demeanor at the Youth World Championships in Uzbekistan in 2013. International meets are huge, loud events with more than 500 athletes and their coaches clamoring for space on platforms and jockeying for just the right lifting order.

“The place was chaotic. Thirty minutes before C.J. is scheduled to lift, I found him sleeping on a cot in the back of the auditorium. That’s his mental make-up. He’s cool and relaxed; he has absolute and total trust in his coaches and his capabilities,” Jones said.

Cohen, now head coach for Team Savannah, adds what he sees in Cummings. “C.J. is incredibly coachable, he has a first-class coach and support network of coaches, and he has a mother and father who literally will do anything in the world for him.”

Cohen, having trained multiple national and world champions himself, said this latter factor is vital.

“C.J.’s parents see to it that he gets what he needs to be as successful as he can be. And as a coach who has coached thousands, that is certainly one of the most important factors in success.”

Clearly, Cummings is strong, fast, athletic and has a mental approach and support system that serves him well. Yet Jones sees another factor.

“I don’t want to get too religious here,” Jones said. “Yet in the end, I can’t help but believe that this is a simply a gift from God. And C.J. is using his gift!”

Cummings appears to have everything he needs to continue his dominance in weightlifting, including representing the Lowcountry in a future Olympic Games, except perhaps financial support.

“Because C.J. has gotten to such a high level, he has to travel to qualifying competitions and the expenses can become overwhelming,” noted Jones, who has set up a fund for Cummings’ expenses through the nonprofit Team Beaufort at AmeriBank in Beaufort.

As he always has, C.J. Cummings will take whatever comes his way this week in stride. No anxiety. No hand-wringing. He will just smile and step onto the platform, using his gift to the best of his ability.

And no matter where that gift came from or the color of his medal, one thing is for sure: The world will be watching.

THE CUMMINGS FILE

Age: 13

Height: 5-foot-2

Weight: 136 pounds

Best Snatch: 260 pounds

Best Clean-and-Jerk: 320 pounds

Birthplace: Beaufort

School: Beaufort Middle

Coach: Ray Jones

Parents: Clarence and Savasah

Note: Since 2011, C.J. Cummings has broken more than 50 Youth American records. He holds all the records in five different age-weight categories.

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